“City in crisis”

[salfordbluetrue]

By no one you mean no one not a single one has turned up.

Yes, when you take out one top quality player out, every other player on the pitch has to adjust and carry the replacement, we are not a young side and have quite a few that simply can not, which puts more pressure on those that can, hence all the injuries.

 

[Tbilisi]

Had a look at last 10 games form guide expecting us to be bottom but Wolves, Ipswich and Sothampton below us.

How shit must they be?

 

[simon23]

I am scratching around trying to find the reason this is happening

Its actually pretty easy to understand...

The cycle of this team is done.....too many players are at the end of their careers...it was there last year to see with some (walker and to an extent KDB who started to struggle physically) and then we go and get Gundo back who it was clear from day one that he aint at that level anymore

Injuries - how many summers have we said we needed cover for Rodri - this is where the back room staff have failed.....Nunes, Phillips...plenty of people questioned their recruitment...we were told "trust txixi...he knows more etc etc ad nauseum......but again ..........
Add this to the Stones and Ake issues - over repeated seasons its been clear that as good as John Stones is he is clearly unreliable due to fitness reasons....to a lesser extent but still an issue is Ake.....this was again glaringly obvious for. number of years

KDB - I am going to focus on him - i said last year that our best football was played without him on the pitch - including winning the CL final - yes he came back and played some good games and got assists but the signs were there - losing the ball when running with it, unable to track back, didnt have the burst or drive to run through the middle. - and then we have a lack of creativity without him

Grealish - the single biggest mistake (including phillips and Nunes) that this club has made.....the team has carried him for all but half a season since he has been here - we blew 100m on him and set our transfer budget back seasons.....we wasted money on average talent.....He is better technically as Foden i was told....he is the successor to KDB i was told....he creates I was told.....WRONG WRONG and WRONG again!!!!!!! I argued against buying him at the time....he is another clear example of OVERHYPED ENGLISH PLAYER - bang average...I also said Phillips was a potential huge mistake.....another bang average player.......never good enough and that was obvious

And lastly, Pep - we know he has a way of playing - he wont adapt it...but he knows he doesnt have the players to play the way he wants "Give me my players back" - people are talking about the injuries but have we considered this is PEp saying he knows the players he has cant do it anymore......He made a veiled refernce to wanting a 25 yr old KDB the other day when being asked about managing KDB's minutes.

There is no solution to this with the players we have at the moment....too many are done.....

And Ill say it now.....if we fail to get world class cover for Rodri regardless of what happens with him we are in even more trouble....there is ZERO guarantee he comes back the player he was.....We need recruitment now and in the summer....

We are in a battle for mid table at best without recruitment.

 

[Grassland Blue]

Are you mad? i saw a graph a few weeks ago from sky, it showed the clubs with the most players out injured for 1+ days, City were mid to top with 10 players, it was total bollocks, as at the time City had 9 out, Haaland is not our most played because he is our only striker, take a look at our bench vs Juve one of the best teams in Europe.

Stats eh?
Lies, damned lies and statistics.
If say our 5 best players are out it makes more of a difference to City than if the 5 best players of say, utd. Wolves or Fulham are out of those teams, as the drop off in quality is much greater.
You can't compare losing Rodri.De Bruyne, Stones, Akè, Akanji etc. to the players of that type of club being out.

 

[salfordbluetrue]

Stats eh?
Lies, damned lies and statistics.
If say our 5 best players are out it makes more of a difference to City than if the 5 best players of say, utd. Wolves or Fulham are out of those teams, as the drop off in quality is much greater.
You can't compare losing Rodri.De Bruyne, Stones, Akè, Akanji etc. to the players of that type of club being out.

That is true, ultimately if you have a full squad of average players, the drop of is negligible to the point of tactics.

 

[jrb]

 

[simon23]

it will take more than 12 months unless we go all out in the transfer windows of this winter and summer

are people taking into consideration the implications of finishing outside of the CL places.....this affects your ability to recruit the best....this is a very real probability...we wont get anywhere near top 4 or even top 6 without major surgery in january andthen you have to take into account that teams will see us coming a mile off and inflate prices hugely....and then we are overpaying for possibly average players (grealish, Nunes, Phillips anyone!?!?!!)

 

[bluenova]

Are you mad? i saw a graph a few weeks ago from sky, it showed the clubs with the most players out injured for 1+ days, City were mid to top with 10 players, it was total bollocks, as at the time City had 9 out, Haaland is not our most played because he is our only striker, take a look at our bench vs Juve one of the best teams in Europe.

Those injury stats are pointless right now, because the problem is a cluster of injuries to all our defensive positions. It also doesn't count the fact that in anything like a normal situation, if just a couple of Ake, Akanji, Dias, Stones and Walker were fully fit throughout, the others would have been 'out' for longer.

 

[bluenova]

it will take more than 12 months unless we go all out in the transfer windows of this winter and summer

are people taking into consideration the implications of finishing outside of the CL places.....this affects your ability to recruit the best....this is a very real probability...we wont get anywhere near top 4 or even top 6 without major surgery in january andthen you have to take into account that teams will see us coming a mile off and inflate prices hugely....and then we are overpaying for possibly average players (grealish, Nunes, Phillips anyone!?!?!!)

Have a look at what we'd likely need for top 4. We've usually finished 20-30 points clear of fifth place, so we have a huge amount of drop off before it's likely.

Prior to yesterday's game, Villa had gained just 3 points on us in the seven league games since this poor run started. This isn't a title battle with Liverpool, where a dropped point is a disaster - the margins are much bigger.

There's obviously no guarantee, but we could go on what would be a pretty average run of form for us till the end of the season, and still easily get fourth place. Remember this team, that many thing are totally past it, had lost just one game in fifty at the start of last month.

 

[Bluearmy]

I am scratching around trying to find the reason this is happening

We have an aging squad who are incapable of playing a pressing style anymore, a goal keeper (Ederson) who cant catch, no LB for years, a RB who’s finished, no DM cover for Rodri, Gundogan’s legs have gone, 4 wingers who hardly score or assist and no back up for Haaland.

Other than that, we’re in pretty good shape!!